Taylor Swift, the “voice of our generation,” once said: “You don’t have to forgive, and you don’t have to forget.” She’s right. And we Americans must not forget the despotic iron fist of the tyrannical unelected bureaucrats and politicians who suffocated churches with their COVID-19 restrictions under the guise of “public health.”
In 2020, the hallowed halls of the California government decreed that bars, abortion clinics, and weed dispensaries were providers of essential needs, while churches, of course, were not. The mandate required churches to restrict services to 100 parishioners or 25% of the church body, whichever was smaller. Virtual meetings were to take their place. Thousands of pastors, priests, and church councils across California capitulated, enforcing mask and vaccine requirements for parishioners. It is now well known that masks and vaccines were useless in “stopping the spread.” It is also known that the medical establishment knew how utterly useless they were from the beginning, as seen through hundreds of Fauci’s leaked emails. Yet, they still deceived millions of Americans into proudly flaunting their badges of servility. Because the religious elite had forgotten the long history of Christian resistance to the state, the State could steamroll defiant pastors via the media, medical, and legal establishment. Thus, only a fractionally small percentage of churches resisted. One of these lone dissenters could be found in Communist-Occupied Los Angeles County. When city officials extended the two-week moratorium on church meetings, Grace Community Church announced:
“Christ is Lord of all. He is the one true head of the church. He is also King of Kings—sovereign over every earthly authority…As His people, we are subject to His will and commands as revealed in Scripture. Therefore we cannot and will not acquiesce to a government-imposed moratorium on our weekly congregational worship or other regular corporate gatherings. Compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands.”
“I’m so happy to welcome you to the Grace Community Church peaceful protest,” announced Pastor John MacArthur to his then-enlarged congregation of 7,000, which erupted into applause. Two months later and 1,100 miles directly north of Los Angeles, in Moscow, Idaho, parishioners of Christ Church were forced to disassemble after three were arrested for participating in a maskless outdoor Psalm sing. The church leaders involved were subsequently criticized for damaging the collective “Christian witness” by a Twitter storm of angry Christians and news outlets, triggered by President Trump’s support and retweet of the video.
The argument against Christian civil disobedience is two-fold. Both parts are taken from a misunderstanding of biblical texts taken out of context. As my grandfather fondly likes to remind me: “Any text, without its context, is a pretext for a proof-text.”
Firstly, do not Jesus, Peter, and Paul all advocate obedience to governing authorities? To answer this question, one must consider the historical, cultural, and textual context in which the writings were composed. In one of the most frequently abused texts, Romans 13:1, Paul writes: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities.” Similarly, Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:13: “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority….” These passages are frequently employed to quash opposition, suppress protests, and deter acts of civil disobedience. So, what led to the writing of these texts? Peter wrote this following his miraculous freeing from prison by the Lord’s angel who removed his chains and opened the prison doors. Was Peter hypocritical for not remaining in prison and submitting to the governing authorities? Similarly, consider Paul’s actions in Damascus, where he escaped from a city governor by being let down from the city wall in a basket through a window. Hypocrite, right? Is this not a contradiction of the very notion of submitting to civil authorities? Crucial to unraveling these questions is an examination of the original Greek translation.
In these texts, Paul and Peter use the Greek word hupo-tasso, translated as “submit” or “be subject.” It carries the literal sense of arranging things respectfully in an “orderly manner underneath.” Paul again employs this term in Ephesians 5:22 to encourage wives to submit to their husbands. This situation, however, gets more complicated with another Greek word, hupo-kouo, which is best translated as “obey.” This term means conforming, following a command, or kowtowing to an authority as a subordinate. This word is used regarding children and parents, and slaves and their masters. Remarkably, despite the availability of hupo-kouo, Paul and Peter opted for hupo-tasso when discussing the relationship between Christians and governing authorities. Their deliberate choice of “submit” over “obey” reflects a definition based on cooperation and order rather than pure obedience. Peter and Paul’s actions reflect what they assume to be self-evident: in situations where obeying the government would require Christians to violate their conscience or go against God’s will, resistance and civil disobedience are justified.
The example of martyrs in the Christian faith, including Peter, Paul, and others who faced persecution for their beliefs, cannot be seen as anything other than a testament to their commitment to God. The biblical narrative makes this point quite clear. In Exodus, the Hebrew midwives resisted Pharaoh’s order to murder newborns, and in the book of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego choose death by incineration over violating the first commandment. Similarly, Daniel faced imprisonment multiple times for refusing to recognize the king as a god. The prophets John the Baptist and Elijah both faced certain death after boldly proclaiming the heads of state as enemies of Israel’s righteous God.
The other scriptural polemic stems from Matthew 22:21. In it, Christ is asked whether or not Jews should pay taxes to the Roman state. Christ responds by holding up a Roman denarius and telling them to “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” The message is clear: the coin possesses Caesar’s image on it, and thus, Caesar has authority over it. Mankind is made in God’s image. It is God who has all authority over it. Therefore, it is within the earthly ruler’s domain of authority to issue demands about fire codes on churches, but not to exercise control over individuals’ hearts, minds, and souls. This distinction is crucial. The human soul, and arguably the body, remains beyond the state’s jurisdiction. But this, of course, is tied to a more foundational question. By what authority?
In Mark 8:29, Christ poses the inescapably political question: “Who do you say I am?” The answer to this question will entirely determine men’s rights and responsibilities in society and the limits on every form of government. The Old Testament asserts that “power belongeth unto God” (Psalms 62:11), that God “removeth kings and setteth up kings” (Daniel 2:21), and that “the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomever He will” (Daniel 4:32).
When governments claim to be the ultimate arbiters, defining where God’s authority ends and theirs begins, they position themselves as the supreme authority, assuming a lordship over Christ. Why is it that the Psalm singers in Idaho or preachers like John MacArthur are treated as if they have committed sacrilege? It’s because when there is no God above the state, then the state is God. Those who dispute the state’s claim to absolute power are rebellious, insurrectionist heretics within the state religion. They are breakers of the government’s first commandment: “Thou art permitted to worship other gods, so long as those gods always agree with us.”
The prophet Hosea writes: “The princes of Judah were like those that removed a boundary. On them, I will pour out my wrath like water.” Modern state actors, like the princes of Judah, attempt to transgress the limits placed on them by God, claiming authority over both the material and the conscience. Their ambition knows no earthly bounds. Like the rebels of Babel, they strive to ascend, daring to conquer Heaven, for the Earth cannot contain their lust for power.
Theologian R. J. Rushdoony writes:
“In early America, there was no question, whatever the form of civil government, that all legitimate authority is derived from God… Under a biblical doctrine of authority, because ‘the powers that be are ordained of God (Romans 13:1), all authority, whether in the home, school, state, church, or any other sphere, is subordinate authority and is under God and subject to His word.’ This means, first, that all obedience is subject to the prior obedience to God and his Word, for ‘We ought to obey God rather than men’ (Acts 5:29; Acts 4:19).”
Scripture teaches that God reigns with inherent authority, while kings rule derivatively from God. God’s jurisdiction is limitless, whereas kings act as His delegates and their authority is finite. The power of God is infinite, having created both Heaven and Earth, making Him the ruler over all. As governing authorities rise in prominence, their responsibility to God increases and they bear a more significant duty to answer before His Divine Majesty. “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it,” proclaims King David (Psalm 24:1 NIV).
Therefore, Christians must not only defy their rulers when commanded to transgress God’s law, but also hold those leaders to account, just as Elijah did to Ahab and Jezebel and John the Baptist did to Herod and Herodias. If conservative Christians genuinely desire to restore and rebuild the American Republic, it will be done through revival and reform. This goal can only be achieved if Christians approach their leaders with a courage previously unseen during the COVID lockdowns. This can only be realized if Christians engage their leaders with unprecedented courage, akin to the prophets’ fearlessness—ready to embrace the furnace or face decapitation, driven by the steadfast faith that the Lord Almighty is by their side.
